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2017 Audi R8 starts at $164,150 [w/video]

The new 2017 Audi R8, which offers 540-horsepower and 398-pound-foot of torque from its V10 engine alongside Quattro all-wheel drive and a seven-speed S-Tronic dual-clutch transmission, will start at $164,150 (including destination). That's about $47,000 more than the previous entry-level R8, but since that car was down two cylinders, 110 horsepower, and 82 pound-feet of torque, it's kind of an apples-and-oranges comparison. There's a much fairer comparison if we look at Audi's newest supercar in relation to the 2015 R8 V10. On the one hand, the loss of the $155,150 manual transmission model kicks the starting price up noticeably, but perhaps in recognition of that, Audi hasn't adjusted the two-pedal R8 V10 at all. It's the same price as the 2015 model while adding 15 more horsepower, seven more pound-feet of torque, and a tenth of a second to the 0-60 time, which is now estimated at 3.5 seconds. Don't worry – the 2017 R8 adds four miles an hour to its predecessor's 195-mph top speed. While under-the-skin changes for the standard R8 V10 may look modest at first glance, the updates Audi added to the V10 Plus are significant, and the automaker has raised the price to reflect that fact. On the one hand, the new range-topper was kicked up by $7,400, to $191,150. On the other hand, power is up by 60 ponies to 610 hp, and torque has jumped from 398 lb-ft to 413. The 0-60 time has been trimmed by a tenth of a second, and owners will also be able to hit 205 mph, up from the old V10 Plus' 198-mph max. To reflect the new pricing announcement, Audi prepped an entertaining video featuring Radio Le Mans announcer John Hindhaugh to "hand the baton" from the original R8 to its second-gen successor. Check out the video below, alongside the official press blast. Audi of America announces pricing for the all-new 2017 R8, the fastest and most powerful Audi production model ever January 20, 2016 | HERNDON, Virginia More powerful and more dynamic than its predecessor, the R8 V10 plus generates 610 hp and 413 lb-ft of torque reaching a top track speed of 205 mph The all-new Audi R8 and R8 LMS racecar were co-developed and share approximately 50 percent of the same parts, including the V10 engine Track-tested around the world, the R8 LMS will make its US racing debut at the ROLEX 24 at Daytona on January 30, 2016 Faster, more efficient, and more capable both on and off the racetrack, the all-new 2017 R8 is the most powerful Audi production model ever.

2016 Audi S6 Quick Spin [w/video]

Back in my salad days, when I was rocking a the greatest Civic Si of all time, the occasional pair of leather pants, and a yen for malt liquor and grass (both of which quickly put an end to the leather pants), a car like the 2016 Audi S6 would've made my head explode. "What's that?" I might have asked. "A roomy four-seat Audi with more than 400 horsepower and all-wheel drive, that looks like it was sculpted by Ralph McQuarrie? Pushing 30 mpg and under five seconds to 60 miles per hour? The hell you say." And that's even before Future Me showed Skinny Me an interior full of carbon fiber and aluminum, God's own quilted-leather sport buckets, and a 'radio' that would've made my Dreamcast look like an Atari 6400. (If you haven't picked up on the vibe yet, I was kind of a weird nerd in the late '90s.) Gentlemen, we live in the future; I just drove a mid-cycle-refresh Audi that proves it. Driving Notes The 4.0-liter, turbocharged V8 is tailor-made for smoothly pulling around anything less-well-endowed than the M5/E63/CTS-V set. Now up to 450 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque (versus the 420 hp and 406 lb-ft of last year's model), there's enough pull in the easily accessible powerband to satisfy all but lunatic drivers. It doesn't feel staggeringly fast, but that's only because 500 horsepower has become so commonplace in the new uber sedan game. It's quick enough. Remember when 250 hp was a crazy number? The car sounds like it has a V8, too. That may seem obvious, but in Generation Direct Injection things tend to get a bit clattery. You'll get some of that if you open the hood with the engine running (as I did in one of the Short Cuts above), but none where it counts: behind the wheel, windows up, stereo down, foot to the floor. That recipe delivers a hushed, baritone-sung song about understatement. Less subtle is the braking force when used at or near the top of its ability. After a moment of surprise and delight while decelerating in normal traffic, I went back-road hunting to test a few pseudo panic stops. Vented 15.7-inch front discs, with 14-inchers in the rear, provided a fast and steady haul-down from 70 miles per hour. Remember when wheels were 15 inches? I mean, you need those big brakes and potent engines to move and stop a car this hefty. With a base weight of 4,486 pounds – no doubt heavier still in my loaded, Dutchman-driven example – it still kind of blows my mind to see the 27-miles-per-gallon highway number.

Audi scores first CA autonomous car permit

Audi apparently knows how to get to the front of a line when it comes to driverless vehicles. The German automaker had the honor of being the very first company to receive one of California's new autonomous vehicle driving permits. It was a perfect followup to it being among the earliest ones to get a similar permit in Nevada a few years ago.
Getting the California permit is a big deal for the automaker because the state is also home to Audi's Electronics Research Lab. Among its current projects, Audi is working on the human-machine interface to communicate whether the person or vehicle is actually controlling the driving. All of this hard work is building toward offering autonomous motoring in freeway conditions in the next five years, Audi claims.
Obviously, autonomous vehicles from companies like Google have been testing in California for a while, but the new permits are meant to safeguard public safety when testing the driverless cars in public. The new rules include things like always having a person able to take control and more stringent standards like registering each autonomous car and the eligible drivers with the state. Any models testing on public roads also have to carry at least $5 million in insurance in case of injury, death or property damage.